


One More Time

by PurpleVinedRose



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mental Illness, Slight Differences In Timeline, Slow Burn, Things change more drastically over time, This is an AU fic, Violence in Later Chapters, this is gonna be a long one, timeline change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-01 01:56:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21324238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleVinedRose/pseuds/PurpleVinedRose
Summary: During Chara's boss fight with Sans, a thought pops into her head. A delectable scheme that gives her exactly what she wants: control. That is, of course, if everything goes according to her devilish plan.To execute her plan however; she must start all over again.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Burgerpants & Nice Cream Vendor (Undertale), Chara & Frisk (Undertale), Chara/Sans (Undertale), Frisk/Sans (Undertale), Mettaton/Papyrus (Undertale)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 66





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is short to set the tone and plot of the fiction. Chapters from now on will be 5k-10k words.

Chara wiped her sleeve across her cheek, glaring darkly at the skeleton across from her. The garbage bag was smiling smugly at her, though his sockets were devoid of emotion. She returned the smug grin with one of her own, opening her body’s eyes wide.

The smile fell from the overrated beanbag, and a shudder seemed to pass through his body before he launched his next attack.

He seemed to be taking his time with her this round. How many times had she died now?

_196_. The voice she had become accustomed to whispered. _Just give up, please_.

She wanted to laugh at how the girl’s voice, even if it was in her head, quivered.

_ Sweetheart, you gave me control. I’m not going to give it up. _She thought sweetly to herself, knowing the spirit would hear her. 

A bone piercing through her kneecap drew a long and pained scream from Chara. She could feel that it was shattered. It didn't matter. None of this mattered.

She returned her attention to the trash, grinning maniacally before launching herself at him. She swung with precision and grace; but still she couldn't lay one damned hit on him. 

She shouldn’t have gotten distracted by the worthless specter in her mind, and she paid for it. The leg crumpled uselessly under her as she maneuvered around the skeleton. She was weakening by the minute. That was fine, she would just come back when she died. She would come back stronger and faster… just to get a little closer to killing the stupid fossil in front of her,

An idea bloomed in the back of her mind. A sinister plan that that occupied her mind while Chara moved the body she occupied gracefully.

“_Sans is incredibly powerful.” _It whispered sweetly. “_You could use that to your advantage. You _ ** _should_ ** _ use that to your advantage.” _

Distracted, she blinked when a bone zipped through her shoulder. She didn’t scream, too lost in what in the world the new, strange voice was pushing onto her. 

“Damnit.” She hissed loudly, and Sans stilled in front of her, his eyes dark.

_ Shit _. She thought, but took the opportunity to strike.

She missed, and before she could react she had a gaster blaster aimed at her face. She scrambled out of the way, her foot being seared by the magic they used.

Taking a moment behind a pillar, she took some time to retract into her mind with her thoughts.

“_You could use all of these suckers.” _The thoughts grew. “_Take out everyone who wronged you. Who cares about monsters? They are far too easy to kill… but a human with a monster army… now that is _ ** _power_ **.”

In an odd way, the thought reminded her of Asriel. 

A grin spread across her face, but soon it fell.

The brat would never let her use her body for that. In order to have a monster army, she had to have _ monsters _… and well… she happened to kill all but a handful. A monster army would require her to reset. 

Sans was panting, and Chara hadn’t realized it, but she had continued fighting in her stupor. 

_ Please stop fighting. _Frisk was begging again. A sly grin graced Chara’s lips.

Frisk was a pushover, and if this little game went on long enough, Chara knew that should could bully the specter into doing what she wanted. She lunged at Sans once more, crossing her blows in an X shape through the air. 

_ Hey Frisk. I’ll stop, if you give me control next time. _She directed her thoughts to the entity. She could feel the shudder prickle on her neck from the scared girl.

_ N-no! _ The girl called out. _ You’ll just do this all again! _

The sweet, naive girl in her mind gave her exactly the answer Chara had been hoping for. 

_ And if I promise not to kill any monsters? _She prodded, a wicked grin forming while she dodged Sans’ next attack.

An inquisitive feeling came from the back of her mind. Frisk may be naive, but she wasn’t stupid. The girl knew that something was wrong here; even if Chara hadn’t given any inkling to her private thoughts.

_ What’s the catch here…? _ Frisk inquired. Chara raised an eyebrow, and thought carefully about her response. Luckily for her; while she and Frisk could communicate through her thoughts, the specter could only know the thoughts that were directed to her.

_ No catch. _ Chara giggled. _ You give me full control next run, and I promise I won’t kill any monsters. _

No monsters at all, in fact. She reflected on her plan again, and she could almost feel Frisk’s contemplation. 

_ You won’t hurt anyone? _ Frisk asked quietly. Chara could feel the girl’s hope. 

_ Full control of this body, and I won’t hurt any monsters. _ She could do that. She let feelings of sincerity push to Frisk. 

It was a heavy bargain. She knew that once Frisk gave up her body, she would be unable to get it back. Hopefully, the stupid girl would think of this as some redemption for Chara. 

Once again distracted by the thoughts, Chara was startled once she suddenly spawned back at her save. She hadn’t realized she had died.

Sans stood ahead of her, sweat beading at his browbone. She knew he would not attack unless she came forward. Using this to her advantage, she prodded at Frisk once more.

_ I will kill and erase everyone if you say no. _ She pressured. Once again there were prickles at her neck. It was a side effect of sharing and controlling her host. Her host’s feelings could sometimes manifest if strong enough.

She knew that if Frisk could, she would be slumping her shoulders.

_ Fine. _ Frisk stated, hope in the ghostly voice. _ I accept your offer. You get my soul again, with the trade you will not hurt my friends. _

The word ‘friends’ made Chara sneer, but she soothed the rapid manifestation with a placid smile.

_ Very good, Frisk. _ She chuckled, reaching for the reset button just out of view. _ Very good. _


	2. The Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara wakes up at the start of the ruins. She finds it hard to deal with emotions while occupying a soul. Something is off about this timeline though, and she can't quite put her finger on it.
> 
> Despite her minor emotional setback, her plan was working.

A familiar sight greeted Chara when she woke. She smiled wickedly; the brat had kept her promise.

Propping herself up from her elbows, she looked around carefully. The same familiar scene, the same familiar smell. Nostalgia crept up on her, and she rose to her feet slowly.

Chara had still been a child when she fell down, and now here she was. Decades later, as a young adult. She took in the sight of the flowers, stroking one petal deftly between her fingers. A warm feeling rose in her chest, and it ached when she realized what she missed.

Shaking her head, she headed away from the room to greet her brother. 

Flowey was exactly where she knew he would be, bobbing up at the sight of her. A wicked grin took his face for a split second before he schooled it into a scowl.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” He snapped at her before drawing her into battle. 

When she saw what was Frisk’s soul, she was slightly taken aback. It was a slightly different color from the vibrant red. Perhaps this was a side effect of Frisk forfeiting her soul before Chara had killed anything?

When Flowey’s bullets hit the soul, she didn’t blink while he berated her. She knew the song and dance. He crowed his victory while she watched the familiar figure approach from the shadows, casting a warning blow to the flower that knocked him out of battle entirely.

“What a miserable creature,” the feminine voice started, “torturing such a poor, innocent youth.”

Toriel stood in front of Chara, and she was just as lovely as Chara remembered her. A warm and motherly smile graced the woman’s soft features, and she was holding her arms out.

Chara had tuned out everything her former adoptive mother talked about, instead choosing to practice her best ‘I am an innocent youth’ face. When they came into the first puzzle room, Chara was startled out of her practice when her former mother touched her cheek.

“You are quite rosy, are you alright my child? You are not sick are you?” She asked in her usual nurturing way. There was a pain behind the goat monster’s eyes, and Chara knew that Toriel was remembering her when she was just a child. Always rosy in the cheeks.

“I’m alright, thank you.” She stated quietly. She knew that Frisk would rarely talk, and she planned to do the same. Even though she was older now and decades had passed since her own death, she knew many monsters may recognize her voice.

“The ruins are full of puzzles…” The monster began her usual lecture, and Chara once again tuned her out. She knew that her former mother would simply lead her through each puzzle. Nostalgia was still creeping along her thoughts, and when they came into the next room she broke away from the monster. She wasn’t sure what possessed her to do so. Perhaps the comment on how rosy her cheeks were? It was abnormal for Frisk’s face to flush.

Perching at the water’s edge, she looked into the clear, stagnant liquid. 

Her reflection stared back at her, and curiosity itched at her.

Her, no- _ Frisk’s _ trademark characteristics had changed, but only slightly. 

Her eyes were opened a little wider, just enough to see slivers of deep red-brown irises staring back at her. Her cheeks were just as Toriel mentioned; rosy and flushed, continuing on to fade into her nose. The tip of her nose was slightly flushed as well. Frisk’s skin was paler than she remembered, and some faint freckles stood out from the pink of her cheeks.

_ Another side effect _. Chara thought, before realizing something.

She hadn’t heard Frisk at all through the ruins.

_ Frisk? _ She called into her mind.

_ I’m here… just…. So weak… _The timid voice called, and Chara paused when she recalled her own memories of being just a fragment of a mind.

She knew exactly what the girl meant. When Frisk would reset that was how she felt every time she would finally wake up. If being a ghost was a tangible feeling, Chara would compare it to that. 

In her stupor, she hadn’t realized that Toriel was talking to her.

“My child, are you so concerned with your appearance you must abandon me?” Mirth came from her former mother. Chara cracked a small smile.

Completing the puzzle at Toriel’s instruction, they continued on. Chara couldn’t help but notice the curious glances the monster kept giving her. She elected to ignore them.

The goat monster instructed Chara to talk to the dummy that she was lead to. A familiar creep of mania flashed on Chara’s face. She took the stick out of her pocket, wielding it like a knife briefly before freezing in her action. 

No. She needed to pretend to be tranquil. Calm. Not murderous.

Taking a breath, Chara shoved the stick back into her pocket before looking back at the lifeless dummy.

Definitely not murderous.

“Go on,” Toriel encouraged, “try talking to it.”

With another deep breath Chara nodded. 

“So um…” she started, keeping her voice quiet, “you come here often?”

A painful blush of embarrassment turned her cheeks an even darker shade of red.

_ That was pathetic _. She thought to herself. Though when she turned to face her former mother, she was surprised to find a happy smile greeting her. A flicker of an honest smile pulled at Chara’s lips.

“Very good.” Toriel encouraged, and took Chara’s hand.

Chara involuntarily relaxed when she felt the soft grip on her hand. Even the little gesture brought a pang of nostalgia straight to her heart, to her soul. While she would never admit it, it was nice to be with her mother again.

When she followed Toriel into the next room, she was reminded of the awful puzzle that greeted them. Even through all Frisk’s runs, Chara had never really understood the rhyme or reason to the spikes. As Toriel guided her through the puzzle, Chara felt a childlike sense of wonder at the completion. She had known the pattern of course, but there was still a sense of _ why _ it would be created in such a way.

However, now was not the time for wondering. This was the portion of Toriel’s tour that she abandoned Frisk at. 

Toriel let go of her hand, and was taking long and quick strides away from her to the end of the room.

Without fail, as Chara walked slowly to greet Toriel behind the pillar, she was soon told that Toriel would be leaving.

“Only for a moment.” The monster promised. “Please stay here. It is dangerous for you to continue without me.”

Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes and kill the pathetic monster, Chara smiled and nodded.

Even if Toriel had been her mother, she still had to fight to keep her instinct to kill down.

As soon as the monster left she felt a weight drop from her shoulders. Chara knew that it would be difficult to once again face her mother, but there was a cold and dreaded feeling that she was not expecting. She couldn’t identify it. Whatever it was, it made her feel sick to her stomach.

She continued into the next room; momentarily startled when a ringtone broke the quiet of the ruins. Right, Toriel had given her a phone. Said phone had the most annoying ringtone that could have been chosen.

Without speaking, she hit the answer button and raised the phone to her ear. She knew exactly what Toriel would say.

“Hello, this is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain.” The was predictably kind as ever, with worry hanging onto her words. “It would be dangerous for you to try them yourself. Be good, alright?”

Chara didn’t get a chance to say anything before Toriel hung up.

Frustrated, Chara turned the phone on mute before a prickle ran up her spine.

Looking around, she noticed a Froggit staring at her.

She reached for her stick, smiling wickedly. She could already imagine his fine dust coating her fingers. She could hear his pleas for mercy even before she started her brisk and threatening walk towards him.

_ Wait _. She stopped, mentally slapping herself. 

“Ahem… um, excuse me.” She uttered. 

The wild panic in the Froggits eyes sent thrills straight to her soul. It was shaking like a leaf, the eyes already tearing up. It only slightly calmed once Chara stopped, though it was still breathing rapidly.

She tucked the stick away before kneeling in front of the Froggit. She pretended not to notice it’s delicious fear as she cleared her throat.

“You scared me.” She lied. “Sorry.”

When she put her lousy excuse of a weapon away, it calmed down fully. The creature addressed her about saving- something she had forgotten about completely. How the creature knew about saves was beyond her, but she wasn’t about to give away herself by asking. 

She moved towards the save near the Froggit, reaching out to brush the light. 

Pain shot through her arm.

It was a million wasp stings. It was icy cold but flesh-bubbling hot. It was hot knives being dragged from her fingertips to her elbow. It was a hotspot of electricity frying her alive.

She screamed, and blacked out.

It had to be for only a few moments, but nonetheless.

The pain was gone, whisked away as soon as it started. 

The bewildered Froggit was staring at her. She felt rage building immediately, and ran to the miserable creature. Her hands itched to throttle the life out of it. 

“Was that supposed to be some sort of prank?!” She snarled, flexing her fingers with an undeniable urge to kill. The way the Froggit wilted away from her was pathetic. It shuddered and gasped with sobs in its panic.

“ANSWER ME.” She shouted, her anger growing further. 

_ Great job not talking much _. She scolded herself.

“I-I don’t know w-w-what happened…” The creature sniveled. She raised a hand, ready to kill. It shrunk away from her incoming attack. “I-I swear...!”

Before the blow landed, an icy shock went down her spine.

_ You promised. _ Frisk whispered meekly in the back of Chara’s mind. Damnit. She had to stick to her plan.

Dropping her hand, Chara took a step back. She observed the stupid, weak creature with dark eyes. Turning heel, she left the despairing monster to rot. 

The puzzles passed her in a blur. She ignored monsters, pressing down urges of murder when they pulled her into battle. She spared whatever she came across, though her mouth was in a hard line and her fingers flexed to just rip them to dust.

When she came across Napstablook, she couldn’t help but grit her teeth. The annoying ghost monster lay at her feet. He was always annoying; unkillable, untouchable, and he wallowed in his own self pity like a pig. If Chara didn’t know better, she would akin his constant depression to a masochistic addiction.

After trying to push him away from the bridge, and failing because he’s a ghost, he pulled her into battle. 

“...oh…” He mumbled, tears forming rapidly. She always hated his attacks. So annoying.

_ How can ghosts cry anyways? _ Chara asked herself, dodging the tears. Only a few managed to hit her, and Chara felt some satisfaction in her ability. She knew Frisk always got beat up here.

Pondering her actions, she gave a phony cheer at the ghost. A big, bright. and strained smile widened as she pretended to be enthralled with the ghost. 

“Wow! You’re so…” Chara faltered, struggling to find _ any _ sort of compliment towards the creature. “...uh… unique?”

It came out more like a question, but Napstablook somehow seemed to enjoy her weak compliment. _ Great compliment, Chara. _

“....check this out…” The words were fading in and out with Napstablook’s form as he used his magic to create a top hat. 

“Uh, wow. That was so cool.” Chara fibbed.

As soon as the compliment left her, Napstablook pulled away from battle.

“I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around... but today I met somebody nice... ... oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way.” He confided, floating away slightly. 

Chara’s phony smile froze when he called her ‘nice’. It had been a long, long time since anyone had told her that. She ducked her head and moved away from the monster, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She hadn’t noticed just how quick that battle had ended.

Chara recalled a spider bake sale around the area, and made her way towards it. It was always good to have at least one healing item, especially after what happened when she saved. 

Walking up to it, she observed the signs. She had accumulated a small amount of gold, but not enough for the spider cider. Instead, she purchased two spider donuts. She folded them into silky napkins before putting them in her back pocket. It would be a waste to eat one now, since she was only missing a small amount of HP.

Moving on, she came to the switch puzzle. She always hated this one for no particular reason. Maybe just because it didn’t make sense. It was easy to solve, however; as long as she didn’t get confused. 

She walked into an unfamiliar room. 

_ Oh, right_. She thought, seeing the toy knife across from her. 

She so desperately wanted to take it. She felt a swell of pain in her soul as she exited the room without acquiring it. Even if it was just a toy, she knew it was better than the stick she carried. However, she knew that the urge to kill would only grow stronger if she had a proper weapon.

Finishing the puzzle, she came to face Toriel’s home, where the monster herself was standing, desperately using her phone.

“Oh my child! You are okay!” Toriel cried, rushing towards Chara. “I tried calling and calling but for some reason I got no response!”

Right, Chara had turned her phone on silent.

Nodding, Chara took the phone from the front pocket that did not carry the stick. Thankfully, it looked like it ran out of battery. She held up the phone to her former mom, giving a fake apologetic smile.

Toriel hugged her so suddenly her breath was taken away. 

“I’m just glad you’re okay, dear.” Toriel whispered, sadness tainting her normally warm voice. “I would have come to you immediately had a dog not… Well, nevermind that. You’re safe. That’s what is important.”

Chara struggled not to relax into her mother’s- no, her former mother’s embrace. Instead, she nodded briskly with a big smile. Her cheeks felt strained from pretending to be happy. 

She could see another save point out of the corner of her eye, and shuddered. Chara wasn’t about to collapse from shock in front of Toriel. The woman would never let her leave if she did, and she desperately needed to leave for this plan to work.

“Welcome to your new home, my child.” Toriel took her hand, leading Chara into the building.

It was homely, just as Chara remembered it from each run. The smell of butterscotch pie greeted her senses. A pit formed in her stomach from the smell, and she shivered. The dessert was always delicious, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to be attracted to it.

“I made you a pie, young one.” The monster continued, not noticing Chara’s discomfort. “It is still too hot to eat, but I think after a short rest you will find it is perfectly warm. What do you think?”

Numbly, Chara nodded, letting Toriel lead her to ‘her new room’. Toriel gave her head a brief rub before Chara entered the room. It was truly her room, or a newer version of it, and Chara pretended to look around curiously while her former mother stood in the doorway.

“Well, I will let you get settled my dear.” The monster stated, pride in her eyes. “I will be in the living room if you need me.”

With that, the monster left. She had left the door open though, and Chara was quick to shut it softly after her.

Surrounded by her old toys, clothes, and memories made her feel cold. At some point, she had been the one to own them. At one point, the only person who shared her property was her family.

Rage burned in her as Chara noted new pairs of shoes that definitely _ were not _her’s or Asriel’s. The thought of someone else living her life made her so angry. Angry and… another feeling that she couldn’t identify. She was so used to being soulless, and these feelings erupted dramatically from her. 

She walked to the bed, _ her bed _, feeling the covers. They were certainly more worn than when she died, but nonetheless they were well taken care of. Toriel always made sure to see that everything preserved well.

Taking a deep breath, Chara felt her face. Hot tears were dribbling from her eyes. Whether they were from anger or despair, she could not tell. She _ hated _ this. She hated these feelings.

Rapidly turning to her closet, she ripped the foreign shoes from the ground, throwing them strongly against the opposite wall.

How **_dare_** they try to take her place?

_ It’s not their fault _. Frisk whispered. She was almost too quiet to hear.

Chara’s skin prickled. The little brat was right. It wasn’t the children and various adult’s fault that they fell down here. It was _ Toriel’s _ fault for trying to replace her.

She ran to the door, throwing it open before marching angrily towards the living room. She was ready to dust that fucking monster so fa-

_ Wait. _

_ Stop _.

She stopped, taking another deep breath. Stick to the plan. She had to stick to the plan.

She continued her walk towards the living room, and approached her former mother carefully.

“Ah, hello my dear.” Toriel greeted, closing the book she had been reading. “Are you feeling well acquainted with your room?”

“I want to leave the ruins.” Chara stated coldly.

Toriel’s face told a story. It went from shock, to sadness, to a brief flare of anger before smoothing into resignation. 

“I must do something, please wait here.”

Chara followed her, almost stepping on the monster’s heels while she headed downstairs. She knew the sequence. She knew Toriel would try to stop her, be unable to hurt her, then eventually let her go.

However, something here was wrong.

Normally Toriel would argue, or change the subject. She had never immediately jump to destroying her only exit.

For some reason, this detail put Chara on edge. Toriel was chiding her while she followed, and Chara was tuning it out while she created a mental list of the anomalies she had encountered.

_ Frisk’s soul looks different. _

_ Frisk’s appearance looks different. _

_ If I try to save, I am hurt. _

_ I was able to silence my phone. _

_ Toriel immediately wants to destroy the ruins exit. _

She had only then realized the phone detail. None of Frisk’s runs had been able to do so, not that Frisk would have anyway. Chara however, would have at least taken note of the option to.

Toriel turned to her, finally reaching the door. 

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child... If you leave the Ruins... They... Asgore... will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? Go to your room.”

Her usual spiel put Chara on edge. There was an anger behind Toriel’s words that had never occurred before. She didn’t want to admit it, but it scared her a little.

She was pulled into battle suddenly. Toriel’s grim face struck some fear into Chara’s heart. Was she seriously in danger from her own mother?

_ Former mother. _ Her mind corrected.

“There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive!”

The fireballs were hurled at her so fast that Chara had nearly no time to dodge. This was weird. Normally, Toriel would give some time to react.

Chara dodged and weaved the flames, some of which managed to land upon her. She could see the pain on Toriel’s face, but even after injuring Chara, the flames did not falter like they normally would.

Chara took her turn, electing to spare Toriel instead of talking to her. Something told her that talking to her right now would do no good. 

Toriel still didn’t falter, even after taking more than half of Chara’s HP.

_ She’s going to kill me. _ Chara thought, desperately trying to think of a way out of the fight. An idea sprang to life immediately, even if it was risky.

Chara took a deep breath, she knew what she had to do.

“Mom… please let me leave.” Chara whispered sweetly. She put a phony innocence into her voice, mimicking how Frisk would talk to her former mother. “I’ll be okay, I promise.”

At the word ‘mom’, Toriel had dropped her attacks; instead her fuzzy hands were clasped over her mouth. Tears were at the edges of her eyes, and Toriel was taking shaky breaths.

“You are stronger than I thought...You have surprised me well. Listen to me, small one... If you go beyond this door, Keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit.” Her mother’s words were firm and formal, reeking of her old occupation. She was regal and demanding now, though Chara could tell that the monster hated it. “Do not let Asgore take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. ...... Be good, won't you? My child.”

Toriel didn’t say anything further, stepping away from the door and walking briskly back to her home.

_ That was weird _ . Chara thought. _ Is she even going to destroy her door after I leave? Wasn’t she supposed to hug me, and tell me to not come back? _

It didn’t matter now. What mattered was she was now getting ready to step into the snowy biome she hated so much. 

The tundra that was occupied by the skeleton who killed her 197 times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know I said it would be longer, but to me the ruins are boring. 
> 
> If any description seems vague, just know that it is supposed to be.


	3. Steadfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara struggles with her human soul. She was too human now. Everything is wrong. Why is everything wrong now?

The bitter cold raised gooseflesh along her arms as soon as it enveloped her. Her eyes swept along the landscape, and she welcomed the sight of undisturbed snow with a neatly made path. She knew that Alphys was watching her, and she was sure to keep her face nonchalant as she took her first steps down the path.

Chara took a long breath, letting out a sigh as she continued. She knew the next step of her journey, and she was not looking forward to it.

Even before approaching the dreaded twig that would snap in a few moments, she could feel eyes boring into her back. Chara could feel Frisk’s excitement growing in the back of her head. Of course the naive girl would be ecstatic to see her previously dead friends once more. Chara reflected on how she hadn’t felt anything around Toriel from Frisk; pondering why that was.

Carefully stepping over the stick, she sighed. It was almost showtime. She loathed the thought of being kind -or just tolerating- to the ridiculous monster, but it was necessary. Her plan had to work.

Predictably, the twig snapped when she was about ten feet away, and she continued on; coming up to a bridge with a wide gate.

Chills ran up her spine. She approached the bridge at what she hoped was a normal pace, soon stepping onto the boards that made it up.

Once she could hear the crunching of snow as the skeleton came onto the smoothed path, and she found that she had the free will to turn around. Generally, Frisk would not; instead choosing the humor the short skeleton into thinking she was scared. Chara was not going to play that game, however.

She turned to watch the skeleton approach. Curiously, she found that by doing this she could hear a very faint _ clack _-ing sound as he walked. 

When she looked to his face, he looked momentarily shocked before switching to his normal shit-eating grin. She really wanted to give him a malicious smile, but decided against it. She needed trust. Trust. 

“Human… Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” He asked, holding out his hand. She looked down at it with open disgust. The thought of touching his phalanxes and metacarpals out of battle just made her want to kill him more. What a disgusting creature.

After holding his hand out for a long minute, he finally dropped the bones back to his side, then into his pockets.

“Wow, tough crowd today.” He said with a relaxed and slightly smug look, eyeing her up and down. “Geez lady, you really know how to pick ‘em.”

Chara raised an eyebrow. That was what he would normally say when she and Frisk would kill everyone. Very interesting. Her taken soul seemed to be changing things, but only slightly.

“Anyways… You’re a human right? That’s hilarious.”

She wanted to kick him in his big stupid smile, and then rip out his soul with her bare hands. That wasn’t an option though, and instead of taking out her malice on him; she simply nodded. 

“Anyways. I’m Sans, Sans the skeleton. I’m actually supposed to be on the watch for humans right now, but uh…” He gave a little pause, and Chara idly wondered just when he would shut up. _ Just a bit longer. _ “I don’t really care about capturing anybody.”

Once again she gave a stiff nod, deciding that maybe talking too much to the skeleton would result in something… less than predictable. 

He punctuated his little monologue with a shrug before continuing. 

“Now my brother, Papyrus,” his smile broadened. “He’s a human-hunting fanatic!”

Ah yes, the brother. Even the shrill and excitable one was a relief from this comic. She pretended to be interested, nodding along whenever she felt appropriate. 

“Hey, actually, that’s him over there. I have an idea, go through the gate.” 

Chara didn’t hesitate in crossing it, leaving Sans to fumble over his words. She knew that the skeleton had expected her to wait for his affirmation, but she really just wanted to stop talking to him as soon as she could. 

Walking confidently into the clearing, the found the familiar scene. A lamp, and outpost, and Papyrus approaching. 

“Quick, behind that uh…”

She was already walking behind it; not caring to give Sans the pleasure of bossing her around. Chara hated every second more she had to spend here with the skeleton, and she desperately wanted to get this over with. 

“‘Sup bro?” Sans asked casually when Papyrus came close. 

Chara stared in horror at the taller skeleton as he approached. A horizontal crack graced his face, crossing the median between his eyes and seemingly wrapping around his skull. The upper portion of the skull was floating a few centimeters above from it’s lower counterpart.

_ What happened to Papyrus?! _ Frisk was screaming in her mind. Her warm feelings were now gone, dread left in their wake.

Chara was choking on the emotions that Frisk funneled to her. Hot tears were splattering down her cheeks and she couldn’t wipe them away fast enough. Usually Frisk’s emotions didn’t manifest so intensely, and yet Chara’s heart thudded with fear and despair.

“YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS ‘UP’, BROTHER.” His voice was the same despite his appearance, it was the loud and chipper sound that Chara had been happy to eliminate in her last run.

Chara stepped out from behind the lamp, briefly noting the angry look Sans gave her. However, she wasn’t the one in control now.

“*Papyrus!” Frisk yelled, using _ her _ body now. “*What happened to you?!”

Frisk was running towards the skeleton, arms outstretched. The specter now had control, and Chara ** _hated_ ** it. She seethed as the brat slammed into the skeleton, who was standing still and solid as a brick wall.

Somehow, she regained control; was it the intense emotions?

Chara peeled herself off the monster, blushing both in anger and embarrassment. She shook in her rage before the tall skeleton, and she desperately wanted to take her anger out on him.

“SANS, WHO IS THIS?” Papyrus asked, his voice shook a little.

“Thats uh… a human I just found. We were actually on our way to go see you.” Sans said coolly, putting his hands in his pockets. Chara hadn’t noticed until now how he had taken a defensive stance.

“WOWEE!” Papyrus grinned widely, looking down at Chara. “HELLO, HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THOUGH I GUESS YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT!”

Unconsciously, she took a step away from the larger skeleton. There was a hint of suspicion in his voice that set her on edge.

“AS FOR YOUR QUESTION HUMAN, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM DOING WONDERFULLY!” 

Sans was staring daggers into her, she could feel his eyes on her; it made her skin crawl. 

_ Look at what you did. _ She directed the angry thought to Frisk. A vague sense of embarrassment crept into her mind, but she did not get a response from the specter.

“CONSIDER YOURSELF CAPTURED, LITTLE HUMAN!” Papyrus boasted, leaving Chara confused. Wasn’t he supposed to challenge her to puzzles?

Before she could think more about it, she found herself hoisted with ease and slung over the shoulder of the tall skeleton. She panicked at the movement, a gasp of fear escaping her as flashes of her fight with Sans rushed before her eyes.

_ What the fuck?! _ She had never had emotion for the fight before, and now she was _ scared _? 

Chara officially decided she hated being human again.

“DID I SCARE YOU, HUMAN?” Papyrus asked, pulling her from his shoulder to look her in the eyes. “I DID NOT HURT YOU, DID I?”

She shook her head back and forth meekly, feeling sick at being manhandled. Though she would be damned if she let the skeleton know. Icy tendrils slid down her back. She loathed the feeling. This _ fear. _

He gave a brisk nod before marching forward and tossing her back across his shoulder. 

Chara looked down blearily at the shorter skeleton who was following in Papyrus’s wake. He was staring at her openly now, confusion and uncertainty barely masked as he observed her. His eyes were pitch black.

The combination of being so close to the trash bag and the swaying of Papyrus’s walking was proving to be too much. The flashbacks were coming back harder and harder and Chara couldn’t prove it but she _ swore _ she saw Sans give her a taunting smile.

That smile was soon turned into a frown as she vomited with a loud ‘_ hrk’ _ sound down Papyrus’s back and gave into the building panic attack.

_ It’s not real _ . She thought, blinking rapidly to try and chase away the memories. Her death, her knee being pierced, her clavicle being shattered. _ Why the fuck does it matter now? It never mattered before. _

Before, she couldn’t feel any of the trauma. Now all she could remember was the pain, and being flung around like a ragdoll to a dog. She could remember Sans’ shit-eating grin as he watched her die over and over and over again. And how much she deserved it.

She clawed at her face and shoulders, trying desperately to come out, to come to life. She couldn’t feel it, she could only focus on her flashbacks. They flayed her alive. She couldn’t breathe, _ she couldn’t breathe… _

Time passed…

… and when she cracked open her crusty eyes, she found herself on a couch.

“Hey Pap, she’s not dead.” A horribly familiar voice called. 

She turned to glare over at the skeleton, but as soon as she turned to face him she found nausea building up once more.

_ What the fuck is wrong with me ?_ She asked herself angrily. 

Chara shoved the blankets off of her, getting up rapidly before lights sparkled in front of her eyes and she wobbled back down to a sitting position.

“Easy there champ, wouldn’t wanna _ pasta- _out again.” Sans snickered.

“SANS THAT IS NO WAY TO TREAT OUR GUEST! THEY ARE ALREADY SICK WITHOUT YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS!” Papyrus trilled, walking into the living room with a heaping plate of spaghetti in one hand.

“Sorry bro, _ tortelli- _you the truth, I’ve just got more to tell.” 

Chara put her head in her hands, noting furrows in the skin under her eyes. When she pulled her hand away, speckles of dried blood clung to her clammy fingertips.

_ Did I do that? _ A shudder ran down her spine, and she looked up to see Papyrus kneeling before her.

“I AM SORRY I SCARED YOU SO BAD HUMAN. I MADE SPAGHETTI FOR YOU IN APOLOGY. I HOPE YOU ACCEPT IT?” He offered her the spaghetti in one outstretched gloved hand, and she had to admit that it smelled okay. Perhaps that was just her empty stomach talking.

Chara took a moment to observe Papyrus’s injury up close. It looked like a small, floating gap wrapping around his face. She noted how she could sort of make out the space behind him through not only the crack, but through his eye sockets; only disturbed by his bright eye lights.

She opened her mouth to speak, but a prickle of pain occurred on her lips. She placed a tentative hand on the crack. It seemed to be trickling a thin stream of blood, a small cut at the left portion of her bottom lip. 

“Don’t you want some spaghetti, Papyrus?” She offered sweetly, coating her voice thickly with feigned interest. 

“I DO NOT EAT MY OWN SPAGHETTI, LITTLE HUMAN. ARE YOU REJECTING MY APOLOGY?” He sounded hurt, and Chara couldn’t admit how it affected her.

“I accept your apology, Papyrus.” She kept her words short, to the point. Not that it particularly mattered at this point; they had already heard her voice. “Thank you.”

Chara took the spaghetti and set it on her lap.

It was warm.

Her stomach snarled at the scent, and tentatively she twirled up some with the fork that had been stuck upright in the middle of the mound. She vaguely noticed the two brother’s staring at her, waiting for her reaction.

When the spaghetti hit her tongue, she tasted a few things.

  1. It was average.
  2. It was overcooked.
  3. There was an unexplainable aftertaste, not unlike syrup, with a hint of something metallic.

“I-its good.” She struggled with the compliment, peering at Papyrus though her eyelashes. She couldn’t seem to look away from the jarring crack.

He seemed overjoyed at the comment, springing up with a loud ‘NYEH-HEH-HEH!’ before calming down once more.

“DID YOU HEAR HER SANS! TRULY MY COOKING IS AMAZING FOR SUCH A COMPLIMENT FROM A HUMAN!” 

“It sure is, bro. I bet you’re feeling _ orzo _-joyed.”

The edge in the shorter skeleton’s voice encouraged her to turn to look at him.

He stood at the edge of the couch she sat on, nothing more than an over-fluffed armrest and discarded blankets between them. What was worse was that he was staring at her as well.

“THAT PUN WAS AWFUL, IT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE!” Papyrus shouted in frustration. 

“C’mon bro, I deserve a _ trofie _ for that one.” Sans winked at his brother, and Chara could swear she could hear a _ badum tss _ in the back of her mind.

There was a long silence as the three settled down.

“HUMAN, I AM SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT YOU CANNOT STAY HERE.” Papyrus crowed. “YOU SEE, AS A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD I AM HONOR-BOUND TO TRANSPORT YOU TO KING ASGORE… ALIVE.”

“What?” Chara asked, the shock evident in her voice.

“PERHAPS YOU HAVE A LISTENING PROBLEM, HUMAN. I SAID-”

“N-no. No, I heard what you said.” Chara quickly interjected, noticing how Sans’ eyes widened as she spoke loudly and clearly. “I just- um… You’re a member of the royal guard?”

“NYEH-HEH-HEH! OF COURSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! ARE YOU IMPRESSED, LOWLY HUMAN?”

Suddenly the taller brother seemed much more sinister. Chara noticed how as his excitement for the conversation grew, she could see tiny sparks of blue with highlights of orange-red starting to connect his fractured skull together. The air seemed to become light and electric, the hairs on her arms and back of her neck raising suddenly. 

She was in danger, and she only knew how to do one thing.

Bullshit her way out.

“Oh, of course a great skeleton such as yourself is a member of the royal guard.” Chara said apologetically, cringing at the fake interest in her voice. “I should have known, with how quickly you captured me.”

“YES THAT IS TRUE, YOU SHOULD HAVE GUESSED. ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU GUESSED MY NAME- AND USED IT WITH SUCH FAMILIARITY TOO- BEFORE OFFICIALLY MEETING ME!” 

Chara could feel the crackle of magical power, and anxiously wondered just how lucky she had gotten in the previous times she had killed Papyrus. Something was wrong here. Papyrus seemed… unhinged.

Sans shifted next to her and eventually moved to stand in front of Chara, his back to her.

_ What an idiot _.

At the movement of the shorter brother, the tension in the air seemed to drop. Papyrus no longer had the strange look on his face, instead looking happily at his brother.

“Say, Pap,” Sans started with a calm voice, “why don’t we hold off on taking her to Asgore. I think the human would appreciate spending time with someone as great as you before leaving. We could give her time to rest up, since she’s sick and all”

The joking was gone from the older brother’s voice, replaced now with a slight coaxing. The skeleton shot a glance over his shoulder to Chara. She couldn’t help but notice the implication of the word ‘leaving’.

_ Why is he doing this? _ Chara wondered suspiciously. _ What’s his motive here? Why would he delay my encounter with Fath- King Asgore? _

She nodded at the Sans’ suggestion. She would have to gain the trust of **all** monsters for her plan to work, after all. If she could slip away while ‘hanging out’ with Papyrus, it would give her time to befriend at least some of the monsters in Snowdin. 

“SO THE TINY HUMAN WANTS TO ‘HANG OUT’ WITH ME?” Papyrus mused aloud, one gloved hand stroking his chin. “VERY WELL THEN. YOU MAY ‘HANG OUT’ WITH ME UNTIL I DECIDE WE TAKE YOU TO ASGORE.”

Chara released the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. 

Papyrus maneuvered around his brother, plopping onto the couch unceremoniously.

“THE FIRST THING WE WILL DO TO ‘HANG OUT’ IS WATCH SOME TELEVISION!” He asserted loudly, a relaxed grin forming on his… teeth? His mandible? Chara didn’t know what to call it. “MY FAVORITE SHOW RIGHT NOW IS ‘_ COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT _’ AND IT SHOULD BE ON RIGHT ABOUT NOW!”

Chara cringed, not ready to take in the sight of the over-sexualized and promiscuous robot. She had hated him since she was a child, and even as an adult found him quite revolting. It was too late to politely reject, since Papyrus had already flipped on the TV.

“Hello beauties~” The sensual voice filled the room, and Chara did her best to look interested. “Welcome… to Cooking with a Killer Robot. Today we will be making human meatballs. Of course, we will only be using locally grown and harvested humans and for those with allergies we will be using a soy-based substitute. Today we will be starting the recipe by preheating the oven to...”

She cast a sidelong glance at Papyrus, who seemed immediately absorbed in the show. She dearly hoped that Mettaton’s locally-grown spiel was a joke. Something about the words set her entirely on edge, especially since she was already so off kilter from her usual run. 

She absentmindedly traced her fingers over the fading furrows on her cheeks. Since she ate (even if it was just a bite) Papyrus’s cooking, she knew the magic would work wonders on accelerating her healing. It seemed to be healing slower than normal though.

The spaghetti sat upon her lap, and Chara anxiously twirled more through the fork prongs.

The more she twirled the utensil, the mushier the pasta dish became. It resembled what she assumed would be food she would find in an elderly home. 

Lifting the fork to her mouth, she gave it a sniff, now certain that since no one was watching, she could further pick the individual ingredients out without being picked apart herself.

There was definitely a sweet aroma that lingered underneath the tangy-sweet of tomato sauce. Maybe sweet wasn’t the correct word, perhaps fermented was better. Sickly and a little putrid, barely masked by the other scents.

_ Is it blood? _ Frisk asked in her mind. Apparently the specter wanted to talk, now. 

_ No, I don’t think so. _ Chara responded coolly, pondering curiously. _ Monster blood tastes a little… different from this. This is too sweet. _

Chara gave Frisk a moment to respond, and when nothing came she took a bite of her barely-spooled mush.

Initially, the sweetness was not apparent. It was definitely overdone, perhaps even burnt. The taste was akin to smoke, like that of a flavored rib roast. Just much more intense. She chewed thoughtfully, eventually swallowing the paste it turned in to. 

Since she took more time with this bite, she could definitely identify a sting of metal in the food, that was followed by the sweetness she had noticed earlier. 

_ You said it wasn’t monster blood… what if it’s human blood? _ Frisk broke into her thoughts

How in the world could it have been human blood?

Unconsciously, Chara shook her head. She didn’t notice that Papyrus was watching her from the corner of his eye socket.

_ That’s impossible, there hasn’t been a human down here in years. _ She thought to Frisk. She set the plate to her side, on the unoccupied space of the arm rest. 

_ That we know of… This is different… You feel it too… _

The gaps between Frisk’s whispers were longer and longer with each phrase.

Chara rolled her eyes, and turned to Papyrus. He turned to look fully at her with the movement.

“Say, Papyrus, what’d you use to make your spaghetti?” She asked boldly. 

His eyelights seemed to shrink for a moment, narrowing at her. He didn’t answer for a long minute. 

“ARE YOU ASKING SO YOU CAN COPY MY EXCELLENT RECIPE YOURSELF, HUMAN?” He fired at her, suspicion in his voice.

“Uh-um… well you see it has such a unique flavor-”

“OF COURSE I WILL TEACH YOU MY CULINARY PROWESS, LOWLY HUMAN!” Papyrus cried with pride, effectively cutting her off from her pathetic stammering. “AFTER ALL, WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE MORE MEALS IF YOU ‘HANG OUT’ WITH US FOR A FEW DAYS!”

She smiled nervously, nodding.

Every time Papyrus spoke, there was an underlying tone. It reminded Chara of a trigger bomb, waiting for the right person to activate it. 

“Hey human,” Sans said suddenly. She hadn’t been paying any attention to him, and he was now sitting on Papyrus’s other side. “What’s your name, by the way?”

Her world froze, and she had to squander the panic that threatened to bubble over. Should she lie? Should she tell the truth? 

Frisk was giving her nudges in the back of her mind. The specter had gone by Chara’s name before with no issue, but then again the monster’s had not known that she was calling herself that.

She could go with an alias. Something simple, like a nickname to keep them off her back. She smiled nervously.

“My real name isn’t important and I almost never use it, consider it dead.” She started carefully. “B-but um… when I was little my mom would call me ‘Sunflower’.”

She wasn’t lying, Toriel would always call Chara ‘her little sunflower’. She doubted any monsters in the underground would know that nickname as her alias. If the time ever came, she would tell Toriel the same thing. Chara knew the emotional resonance of the name would spur Toriel only to trust her further. The motherly monster was always so emotion-driven.

Sans was regarding her carefully. His eyelights were dull in their sockets. His face was unreadable, and Chara turned her eyes to Papyrus. 

He was grinning jovially, nothing amiss. 

“VERY WELL.” He began excitedly. “HUMAN SUNFLOWER, ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU WHERE YOU WILL BE SLEEPING.”

He stood, and took her hand abruptly. “SINCE YOU DON’T SEEM TO LIKE BEING CARRIED, I WILL HOLD YOUR HAND.”

There was a hint of apology in his voice, and it wavered slightly. 

He marched up the stairs, dragging her in his wake, approaching the end of the hallway, near Sans room…

_ Oh hell no. _

...Then her marched back down the stairs, and gestured to the couch.

“I HOPE THIS SUITS YOU WELL ENOUGH. YOU SEE; THERE ARE ONLY TWO BEDS IN OUR HOUSE, AND THEY ARE BOTH TAKEN! THE COUCH IS YOUR ONLY OPTION!” He seemed slightly chagrined, a faint dusting of a red blush on his cheekbones. 

In all honesty, she hadn’t been thinking about sleep. After everything being so off kilter, she felt too wired to do so. She felt the need to make physical notes, and understand why everything was so out of the loop. 

“WELL, HUMAN. I WAKE UP VERY EARLY. PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ME ON MY PATROL?” Had Papyrus sensed her restlessness? 

She shrugged, a noncommittal sound escaping her mouth. 

“HM, I WILL CHECK AGAIN IN THE MORNING THEN.” He decided. “I HAVE LEFT YOU BLANKETS AND A PILLOW, IS THAT SUFFICIENT?”

She nodded again, not really paying attention to what he was saying.

“GOOD. MY BROTHER WILL STAY OUT HERE WITH YOU. SINCE HE IS SO LAZY HIS ONLY TASK IS TO WATCH YOU.” Papyrus nodded to himself, and Sans made a choking sound from the side.

_ Ah. Papyrus makes decisions without consulting Sans. _

Of course, she already knew that, but to this extent?

She glanced at the skeleton, who wasn’t looking at her or saying anything. Instead he was slumping his shoulders in defeat, looking at the ground.

_ What a pushover. _She thought.

She sat once again on the couch, and Sans simultaneously jumped off of his end.

Papyrus began marching off, waving his gloved hand to the other two. “GOOD NIGHT THEN, I WILL SEE YOU TWO TOMORROW.”

Chara turned her eyes to Sans, who was looking slightly aggravated. Well, at least they both felt the same way about the situation. The thought of a murderous skeleton didn’t exactly make her feel all warm and cuddly inside.

Except…

_ What the hell, Frisk _?! She shouted in her head. The specter at least had the decency to be embarrassed at their feelings. 

_ Sorry… _ Frisk whispered back. Chara could feel the hurt in their voice, and frankly didn’t care. How their bond was suddenly so free-flowing put her on edge. She did not want Frisk to be able to feel her every emotion, and she definitely didn’t want to feel everything Frisk would react to.

Sighing, she grabbed the pillow Papyrus had mentioned earlier. She fluffed it and smoothed it, peeking at the shorter skeleton once more. 

“Well, guess you’re gonna babysit me then.” She stated flatly, setting the pillow so it leaned on the armrest. 

Sans didn’t answer, instead he went to the kitchen and dragged a chair out to set next to the couch. 

“Guess so.” He finally said. The skeleton offered nothing else to say.

She could only imagine what he was thinking. He and Papyrus had always been enigmatic, and she knew that they retained some memories of reset. Sans specifically set trails for himself for each reset. However, if he would not bring it up to her then she had no reason to bring it up to him. He probably felt the same way about these changes in events as she did... if he was even aware of them.

She sighed, glancing around. Was she really going to let him watch her sleep?

“I don’t think I can sleep just yet.” She mentioned, picking up the forgotten spaghetti from the armrest. “May I either pack this up for later or dispose of it?”

Sans gave a shrug, staying silent.

She rolled her eyes. The skeleton really wasn’t going to give her anything. She took the spaghetti from the couch, and into the kitchen where she rummaged around briefly. She had to call upon Frisk’s memories to recall where tupperware was hidden. Once she figured it out, she deposited the barely-eaten spaghetti into the brother’s fridge. She couldn’t reach the sink, so she set the empty plate on a countertop.

Before she could leave the kitchen though, Sans stood in the doorway. He had one brow bone raised. She briefly wondered how calcified bone could be malleable.

_ Probably magic. _

She felt like a dumbass for thoughts like that.

“So,_ ‘Sunflower’, _” Sans began casually with the barest hint of sarcasm, “care to explain how you knew where our tupperware was?”

_ A stupid mistake _. Her thoughts hissed. Her cheeks burned.

“A lucky guess.” She lied, slipping past the skeleton and back to the couch. “It’s common to keep tupperware in lower cupboards on the surface.”

She didn’t know that for a fact, but it seemed easy enough to lie about. 

“You’ve had a lot of lucky guesses today.” He sounded more dangerous now, following her into the livingroom and settling on the chair he had dragged from the kitchen. “You knew I was approaching, you knew my instructions before I gave them, you ‘guessed’ Pap’s name… Or rather, you hugged him as though he was a long lost friend.”

There was a long pause, Sans tapped his phalanges against his temple. “Now, you found our tupperware with minimal effort.” 

“Guess I’m a lucky gal.” She smoothed one hand over the pillow she had fluffed. 

“Heh.”

The soft laugh felt weird in the air. She looked down at her lap. The air crackled with magical energy. The hair raised on her neck. What was happening?

“So, _ Sunflower, _ what are you really here for, and why shouldn’t I kill you right now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a Papyrus-heavy chapter next time. I love the thought of an unhinged Papyrus, and it's so rarely done I figured I would give it a try.


	4. His Old Lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the hiatus. I was hospitalized essentially from late November through January- and then had to go through physical therapy. Now I'm back, and hoping to keep this going.
> 
> I updated all of the chapters- no new content, just making sure that grammar, story-line, and characters make more sense.
> 
> After this chapter, things get a little more intense. I plan on adding content warnings at the beginning of each chapter. Just keep a lookout.

Papyrus closed his bedroom door softly against its frame, leaning back to lock it from the inside. He knew that if Sans wanted something, he would knock. His brother had made the mistake of  _ popping in _ unannounced only once.

Satisfied with the click of the lock going into place, he crossed the room with confidence, opening up his closet door and peeking inside. Everything was undisturbed, and he quickly pushed aside his hanging clothes and the miniature dresser that was in the way of his goal.

Another door was before him. Quickly, he brandished a key from one of the folds of his scarf, quickly inserting and turning it to unlock. Soon, he stepped into the lab.  _ His fathers _ old lab.

Papyrus flicked the lights on as he descended the stairs into the lab. He had an awful feeling about this human, but he couldn’t quite place it. There was something… off about her.

_ Sunflower _ . He thought.  _ What a coincidence. _

He opened the back door to the office, allowing the chilly air to gust through the room. Looking down, he greeted his companion with a nod.

“What was the hold up tonight?” Flowey demanded, carefully uprooting to place himself in the flower pot inside of the door. Papyrus shut the door once he was settled, scooping up the flower and setting him gently on the metal lab table.

“WE HAD AN… UNEXPECTED GUEST TONIGHT.” Papyrus confided, confident that no one would hear them in the lab. “A HUMAN.”

“Oh?” Flowey suddenly seemed  _ very _ interested. “Has it already been sent off to Asgore?”

Papyrus shook his head no, opening a file cabinet and pulling out a small stack of papers. He carefully took his prized gloves off, flexing his phalanges before taking a pen from a cup nearby.

“THIS HUMAN IS VERY… ANOMALOUS.” Papyrus admitted. “THEY KNOW SOME THINGS THEY SHOULDN’T. THEY… KNEW MY NAME? BEFORE I TOLD THEM IT. THOUGH I SUPPOSE SANS COULD HAVE TOLD THEM, THEY ACTED VERY FAMILIAR TOWARDS ME.”

Flowey also took a pen from the cup, casting a confused glance to the skeleton. Papyrus pretended not to notice.

“THEY ACTUALLY REMIND ME OF YOU, FLOWEY.” He confessed. “IN THE SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME WE SPOKE, THEY HAD THE SAME CONFUSION AS YOU DID, WHEN YOU RESET AND FOUND US.”

He began making notes for this human, only noticing in passing that the flower had taken its own piece of paper. Although they called themselves ‘Sunflower’, Papyrus knew it was an alias. His pen scratched on the paper, marking the human’s name, height, power…

Papyrus stilled, looking over at Flowey once he realized his companion had gone silent.

The flower held a contemplative look, face screwed into an ugly, twisted grimace.

“Papyrus, did they mention a name?” Flowey asked, quietly. 

“THEY TOLD US THEIR REAL NAME WAS DEAD, AND TO CALL THEM ‘SUNFLOWER’.” He responded curiously. “WHY DO YOU ASK, FLOWEY?”

As if shaking himself from his stupor, Flowey straightened himself out and gave a big, phoney smile. “No reason. I was curious.”

Ah, so he wanted to play the secret game. 

That was fine by Papyrus. After all, the human was in his care, and not the flowers. He continued his work-in-progress report. Writing down the anomalies that seemed to follow the strange human, he contemplated to himself.

Surely Sans was trying to intimidate the human into giving him answers. Papyrus didn’t care, his little brother could do what he wanted. Papyrus knew that the human would only relent what she wanted them to know.

That was fine.

He set the pen down, breathing slowly from his nasal passage. This human was much different from any he had encountered before.

The others usually fought, or did their best to escape without becoming attached to anyone. That was the difference; this one was doing it’s best to flatter and bond with him.

This one acted like it had done this before.

Pondering, Papyrus pulled open the file cabinet once more, reaching towards the back. Section letter T.

_ Timeline. _

Papyrus grimaced at the word. Sans had worked previously on this project, but had abandoned it after their creator’s disappearance. Leaving behind an unfulfilled project that no one had answers for. 

Closing the cabinet with a quick  _ click, _ he glanced over the file.

He could feel Flowey watching him. The creature was an anomaly in itself, and served currently as both a friend and subject. Hell, the plant had an entire subsection dedicated to it; lovingly referred to as the ‘Flowey Fan Club.’

Not that the creature knew of any of the scientific parts.

Flipping open the file, he stilled at the human passage. These notes were in the neat handwriting of his creator and, who he had only shared with a select few, his language.

_ “Jumping Theorem 01 Unrevised: Humans can jump timelines, in theory. It is thought that once a life-changing decision is made, then a portal or rift is created; allowing a human access to the closest timeline. It is unknown if these are conscious decisions, but based on Subject 08 it is theorized that it is a randomized and not premeditated jump.” _

While the information was appreciated, it didn’t give Papyrus much insight as to how to deal with a possible ‘jump’, as the report called it. 

_ “Report 01 Class T: Subject 08 was concerned when initially introduced to testing. They repeated the words ‘This is wrong’ and ‘It doesn’t go like this’ multiple times within the first two hours of physical testing. Within hour number three, Subject 08, herein referred to as 08, seemed resigned to talking.” _

_ “Report 02 Class T: 08 was open to oral testing. Procedural tests 6-9 were all conducted verbally with excellent payout. Notes as follows. _

_ Procedure 6. - Subject questioned about their distress. _

_ ‘This is wrong, you are not the same friends I made in the underground not too long ago. Everyone is acting differently. Everyone is faster to judge and tougher to fight.’ _

_ When prompted further, the subject was less willing to comply. Moved on to Procedure 7. _

_ Procedure 7. - Subject questioned on health of three varieties; mental, physical, and soul. _

_ ‘I feel fine mentally and physically, but when my soul was pulled out to fight a vulkin earlier, it looked a lot different. It no longer reflected BRAVERY.’ _

_ Procedure 8. - Subject questioned on bodily function. _

_ ‘Body function? Like eating and using the bathroom? I feel fine, and also that is a weird question to ask when you’re not even a real doctor.’ _

_ Procedure 9. - Subject questioned on memory. _

_ ‘I remember I was going to hard reset so I could forget a fight we had where I… well, nevermind that. When I opened my eyes, everything seemed normal, and slowly changed into a completely different world!’ _

Papyrus made note to ask some of these questions to the human, albeit he would do so in a less clinical manner. He flipped the page.

_ Report 03 Class T: 08 is no longer openly communicating with Dr. Gaster. Subject tried to escape, claiming that test procedures would kill them. Subject has been restrained and put into isolation.  _

The passage surprised Papyrus. The specific report had been made long before Papyrus had been made, and yet the skeleton could clearly remember his creator mentioning having to restrain a test subject more than once during his childhood.

_ Did they keep 08 alive all those years? _

Papyrus shook the thought off. Surely a human couldn’t live that long. He glanced over at Flowey, who was absorbed in scribbling down his thoughts on his respective paper.

“SAY, FLOWEY. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS REPORT. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? DO YOU THINK SUNFLOWER IS POSSIBLY FROM THE SAME TIMELINE?” Papyrus asked, handing the file over to the creature. 

The plant opened it curiously, and became slightly flustered.

“Papyrus, I can’t read this, I don’t know what it says.” The flower stated, sounding annoyed. “It’s all in symbols. It looks like another language.”

Ah, right. Papyrus had momentarily forgotten that W.D. hadn’t made his language common. 

“R-RIGHT. THIS REPORT IS ON A HUMAN THAT FELL DOWN MANY, MANY YEARS AGO. BEFORE I WAS MADE, IN FACT. THE HUMAN CLAIMED THAT WE WERE DIFFERENT FROM THE MONSTERS SHE BEFRIENDED. IT WAS THEORIZED THAT THE HUMAN SOMEHOW JUMPED ITS TIMELINE.”

Flowey remained stoic, shrugging and looking back down at his own paper. There was a darkness to his eyes, similar to longing.

“Papyrus, do you think they jumped?” Flowey asked. “You are much keener on the scientific side of things than I am.”

“I CANNOT SAY, MY SMALL COMPANION. I BELIEVE I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR THE HUMAN IF YOU DO NOT MIND LEAVING A BIT EARLY TONIGHT. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT SANS IS HARASSING THE GIRL.” Papyrus was quick to stand, scooping up Flowey delicately, careful not to spill the soil from his flower pot.

The flower squeaked indignantly, holding onto his paper and folding it carefully. 

“Fine, bye then.” The flower growled, uprooting himself as papyrus opened the back door to the lab. “Take care of the human. They seem important.”

Papyrus felt a flicker of anger at the creature's remark, and he dumped the flower unceremoniously outside. 

“WATCH WHAT YOU SAY, FLOWER. YOU WOULD NOT WANT ANOTHER INCIDENT WITH ME.” He threatened vaguely, slamming the door before marching back up the stairs. 

Now to see the damage that may have been done by his idiot brother.


	5. A Bunch of Buffoons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, per my last update we all know I've been in physical therapy. Well... With COVID that isn't happening anymore and my energy during the day has plateaued. I have decided that instead of long chapters, I will post shorter ones so that you all don't need to wait as long. 
> 
> Currently my energy levels only allow me to write maybe two pages a day (if I'm lucky). 
> 
> Now, as for the story...  
Please understand that this is not a happy story, and I am working on horror themes. The Underground monsters ARE NOT the villains of the story; Chara is. In the next few chapters, I want to kick things up a notch, and the TAGS will change as the story developed, as well as warnings at the beginning of each chapter when applicable.

Her previously relaxed demeanor changed instantly, and she bristled at the underlying threat in the skeleton’s tone. Chara locked eyes with Sans, and she sucked in a breath. His sockets were pitch black, fully leering at her with intensity.

“I implore you,  _ Sunflower _ ; lie your way out of this.” He snarked, leaning forward.

Chara flexed the hand that lay on the pillow, her other hand clenching into itself- the nails digging painfully into her palm. Unconsciously, she licked her lips nervously.

“Tell you what,” she started, her free hand travelling to stroke the stick in her pocket. “I’ll give you information if you give me information.”

“Why should I accept? You clearly know things you should not, I would hazard to guess that you would know the answer to anything you ‘asked’ me.” The skeleton put air quotes at the word ‘asked’, and she shook her head angrily.

“You’re a stubborn buffoon, Sans. I know you’re too lazy to kill anyone.” She ground out scathingly. “I’m just as confused as you, if not more. My first question; why are the monsters underground?”

Chara decided to go with a careful and articulate area, genuinely curious if the circumstances had changed since clearly most, if not everything, else had.

Sans leaned back at the question, a quick flicker of confusion adorning his skull. She smirked at his discomposure.

“A long time ago, humans were at war with us. The reason for the war was consumption. Consumption was rampant at the time in both humans and monsters alike, but the humans blamed us. I wasn’t alive for it, but I was told that many would just waste away. It was rumored to spread after monsters began feasting on the animals above, and the sickness from those animals spread from monsters, to the humans.

The humans believed that certain animals would cure the disease, they poached and maimed many creatures for their hides, their claws, and their bones. However, something happened after months of failure. Instead of slaughtering the animals they turned onto the monsters and began to try to… ‘harvest’ us, for a lack of better term. They thought our magical properties would heal them. Of course, we monsters were not going to stand by and let it happen, a war erupted. 

We lost, miserably. Monsters were -and still are- weaker, and were also being overtaken by the plaguing disease, the monsters who fought in the war were banished away by mages. There was nothing they could do, they were pushed into the mountain, and sealed away.”

Chara was captured by the tale, and her grin only grew wider as he finished.

“My turn. Who are you, really?” He sneered, standing from the chair and approaching; stopping in front of her. “And do not say  _ Sunflower, _ or a human, or anything so stupid.”

She smoothed her grin into a gentle smile.

“What, don’t you trust me Sans? I am a human after all, I could’ve hurt you if I really wanted to. My name is…” She hesitated, prodding at Frisk carefully, asking permission.

At the warm feeling that came back from the spector, she eased up.

“My name is Frisk.”

“WHAT A LOVELY NAME, MISS FRISK.” 

The bellow of Papyrus startled both her and Sans, and they both jumped, though Sans did so with a flinch. 

“Hey Pap…” Sans mumbled, stepping carefully away from Chara. She stared at the pathetic skeleton with disdain. A miserable creature.

“I EXPECTED YOU TO BE ASLEEP BY NOW, SMALL HUMAN.” Papyrus crowed, and Chara shrunk away from the tall brother as he approached. His scarf was rumpled, and was that a smudge of dirt on his phalanges?

_ Wait a minute. _ Papyrus wasn’t wearing his gloves… how odd.

“S-sorry. Sans and I were having a chat.” She smiled apologetically, though her mind flared with anger. She needed to know more. This was too different from her normal run. This was wrong.

“YES, IT SEEMS MY BROTHER HAS SOMEHOW INTIMIDATED YOU INTO GIVING YOUR REAL NAME, EVEN THOUGH HE IS VERY LAZY. I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU DID NOT HURT HIM.”

That edge to his voice was back, like a rumbling timbre of anger mixed with excitement. She shifted uncomfortably, not willing to meet the tall skeleton’s eyelights.

Dammit, she needed more information.

“Actually Papyrus, I had some que-”

“PLEASE BE QUIET, HUMAN. I EXPECT SUCH RUDENESS AND DISOBEDIENCE FROM SANS, BUT I EXPECTED MORE FROM YOU.”

“Well technically you never told me to go to sleep…” She trailed off, kicking herself mentally. Clearly Papyrus wasn’t happy with her, and now she went and made it worse.

The skeleton took long strides to her and bent down to look at her in the eyes, right up to her face. “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

_ I’m more scared now than I ever was facing Sans… _

The skeleton in front of her moved faster than she could process, grabbing the wrist that lay on the pillow and gripping it with crushing strength.

She flinched, but otherwise did nothing. She needed to stick to the plan.

The icy cold phalanges loosened only slightly at her flinch, and the skeleton gently stroked her wrist and hand with his ‘thumb’.

“FRISK -SUNFLOWER- WHOEVER YOU ARE… YOU WOULD DO WELL NOT TO ANGER ME.” Papyrus said breathily. “YOUR SKIN… IS VERY WARM.”

Sans cleared his throat, startling Chara out of her frightened stupor. She desperately wanted to do something- _ anything _ to get away from Papyrus. She needed to fight, she needed to get away,

these  _ monsters _ ...

her plan...

be damned.

She took the stick, the pathetic weapon, out from her pocket with her other hand, rising up from the couch to press her forehead to Papyrus’s. 

“No,  _ Papyrus _ , perhaps you would do well not to anger me.” She sneered, and slammed her weapon forward.

...She missed.

_ These fucking brothers and dodging. Damn it. _

Papyrus had returned to his full height, quickly stepping backwards to avoid her attack. Before she could do anything else, her vision went black, and a white hot pain seared at the back of her head.

...

The blackness turned to grey, and she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the mind numbing pain. It only served to worsen it.

She cracked her eyes open, lights dancing at her vision for a brief moment before she blinked them away. She was slumped over in what she could only assume was an isolation room.

_ I need to reset. _

She reached out, in any general direction, sweeping her arm and hand to try and find the release from this cursed run.

Her heart sank as she grew more desperate, why couldn’t she find her reset? What was happening?

“Kid, you did just about the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.” Sans interrupted her thoughts, and she scrambled to stand, finding that while her arms were free; her legs were chained to the floor by a short shackle of metal.

She sucked in air, her head aching miserably and tormentingly. 

“What?” She finally asked, and even her own speaking was a hammer to her head trauma.

“Listen,  _ kiddo _ , you’re both the dumbest and the bravest human I’ve ever seen down here. You’re lucky Pap didn’t completely lose control on you.” She couldn’t see where the walking talking trash bag was, the room was too dark and her head hurt too much. His voice held nothing but contempt.

“First of all- I’m not a fucking kid. Second; was I supposed to just sit back and take it?” She snarled, desperately willing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. “Did you want me to sit pretty while he hurt me?”

She held out her wrist in front of her, still unsure of where Sans was. Her delicate wrist was adorned with light purple-green bruises. Though she could not see the injury in the dark, she could certainly feel it.

“Yes, that's exactly what I expected.” His voice was too close-  _ way too fucking close _ . She whipped around, head injury be damned, and tried to face the useless skeleton. “I was  _ hoping _ that you wouldn’t be a fuckin’ idiot and get yourself sent to the lab immediately.  _ I know _ that something is going on here, and I am determined to find out what.”

There was a long pause, and she struggled to stay standing.

“Damn you skeletons- what did you do to me? I can’t fucking think, I can’t see, WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Her hysteria grew while her grip on sanity slipped briefly.

She sank to her knees, raising her hands to cover her eyes. She could still feel the injuries from her panic attack under her palms. 

“Heh.”

_ Damn him. I will have my revenge. _

“Well kiddo, you got a metal bat to the back of your head. My options were either to knock you out before Paps could devour you, or just let Paps devour you and deliver your violated remains to the lab.” His voice was laced in fear and mirth, merging together in a way that sent tingles down her spine.

_ Devour me? A metal bat? _ Nausea swept over her. Chara held back her illness as best she could, breathing deeply while trying to sort her thoughts. 

“Lucky you, Paps knows you are strange too. We had a nice heart to heart, and he has agreed that you will stay in our lovely guest house until you start talking.” 

At those words, she couldn’t hold her nausea any longer. She dry heaved to the floor, head dipped dangerously low. She was so cold, she just needed to reset- then everything would be okay.

_ I will find my reset. I will fix this.  _

“Hey, Frisk.” The fossil was now crouched next to her. “You got lucky. I don’t recommend being so stupid ever again. Whoever you are and wherever you are from; our world is nothing like yours.”

Chara raised her head to look at him. His eyes were somehow even darker than the shed enveloping them, like two abysses gaping at her. His bones seemed highlighted faintly by the small amount of light that was coming from beneath her only exit.

“I need you to understand something, _human_.” He growled, a deep rumbling in his chest that made her stomach drop. “No monster here is evil or a bad person. We are doing what we have to in order to survive. However, if you _ever lay a finger on my brother…_ _Heh… You will be dead where you stand.”_

Sans vanished with a brief flash of blue.

_ God fucking damn it… _ She clutched at her head, still processing the event that had just happened.  _ Saying his brother isn't evil… I will make sure all monsters will submit to me. They will know their kind. They will submit. _

She could feel Frisk’s dread at the back of her mind, and turned her attention to it.

_ You okay, Frisk? That was scary. _ Somehow, she felt bad for the specter. Emotions were so much easier to tap into with a soul… disturbingly easier.

_ *I… Sans… Papyrus would’ve hurt us…  _ Chara’s heart thudded at the pain in her companion’s voice.  _ *Papyrus… he…. _

The specter trailed off with no further discussion. 

Chara idly wondered where the tall skeleton even was. Surely if Papyrus was so intent on ‘devouring’ her, he would be trying to egg her on into angering him.

That injury to his head… That had to be the cause of his aggression, his explosiveness… Right? Where had it come from? What had caused him to have such a perfectly wrap-around injury?

Thinking back, she could fuzzily remember pressing her forehead to the taller brothers. A bad idea, sure, but what she then realized was that even though she had been pressing with a decent amount of force; the floating cap of his skull did not budge. Of course magic had held it together, but there had to be some connection to his short- no,  _ wild _ temper and her interference with it. He had been pleasant, if a little odd, up until that point.

She shuddered, recalling his comment about her skin. Just what kind of creature -monster  _ or _ human- would comment on something like that? That paired with Sans’ lecture on her being eaten…

Nausea swept away her thoughts, and she once again dry heaved onto the floor. Splittle and tears were the only things that managed to leave her. Her concussion was only worsened by the symptoms, her dry heaving triggering even more nausea. Her eyes stung with tears from her nose and throat working overtime to try and evacuate anything from her stomach.

Gasping for air, she sat back on her heels.  _ She was so cold _ .

As if the gods above had heard her… warmth enveloped her. A plush blanket was wrapped around her shoulders.

“HUMAN.” She gasped at his voice, she hadn’t even heard the skeleton enter! “I APOLOGIZE FOR LOSING MY TEMPER. PLEASE ACCEPT THIS BLANKET SO THAT YOU DO NOT FREEZE TO DEATH.”

He was standing behind her, and she could feel his cold phalanges through the blanket, as if they were sucking the warmth from her.

“I ALSO BROUGHT YOU A PILLOW. YOU ARE IN THE SHED SO IT IS NOT FURNISHED FOR A HUMAN, BUT THIS SHOULD AT LEAST KEEP YOU ALIVE AND SOMEWHAT UNCOMFORTABLE ENOUGH TO NOT TRY TO KILL ME AGAIN.”

His voice was crisp, right over her head- her injury. Slowly, she turned her head to try and look at him.

In the dark, she could see the magic that was holding his skull together. Crackles of blue highlighted with orange very occasionally stood out. Brief like lightning.

“Papyrus, what happened to your head?” She asked gently. 

“MY… HEAD?” The skeleton asked, and walked around to face her front. “LITTLE HUMAN, I AM NOT GOING TO ANSWER ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS. THAT MAY SEEM RUDE BUT YOU DID JUST TRY TO KILL ME.”

The skeleton bent down to look at her, just like before. Up close, she couldn't directly look at the magic. Her eyes burned at the light and her head swam.

“I DID MY BEST TO WELCOME YOU INTO MY HOME, HUMAN. THIS IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF ACTING ON YOUR SAVAGE INSTINCTS. UNDERSTAND THAT I AM FORGIVING. MY BROTHER HAS SPOKEN WITH ME… WE PLAN TO KEEP YOU UNTIL YOU TELL US THE FULL TRUTH.” 

He erected himself once more, and stared down at her.

“DO NOT BOTHER TRYING TO RESET, IT WILL NOT WORK.”

With that flippant and terrifying advice, the skeleton disappeared in another blue flash.

_ These fucking brothers. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, Chara gets knocked the fuck out a lot. Hopefully that wont happen again for awhile, otherwise her brain may never recover!
> 
> Sans is OOC, but this is a separate timeline, and may have some implications for future chapters... c;
> 
> Remember, the monsters in the Underground ARE NOT THE VILLAINS OF THE STORY! (Though it may look like it right now!)


End file.
